Mesa police were called just before 8:30 p.m. on Monday, August 31, 2026, to the area of Mesa Drive and Jensen Street in Mesa, Arizona, on reports of a man threatening people with a gun. Two roommates told officers he had displayed a gun during an argument. They ran to a neighbor’s home and called police.
Officers spoke with the man by phone, and he did not follow repeated commands to come out of the apartment. Mesa police say they had received numerous calls for service from him over the previous two weeks. Officers determined he was alone inside and, at that point, not an immediate threat to officers or the public. Believing he may have been in a mental health or substance-related crisis, they decided to disengage.
As officers were preparing to leave, an uninvolved driver crashed into a marked patrol car that was handling traffic control nearby, and officers stayed to investigate the crash.
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During that investigation, police say, officers saw the man look over a block wall and point a handgun at them. Officers gave him commands. When he reappeared over the wall, an officer fired his rifle, striking him.
The Mesa Police air unit confirmed he was down. Officers approached and found him with a gunshot wound and a handgun nearby. Paramedics pronounced him dead at about 9:48 p.m. Police recovered the handgun at the scene. The department’s briefing does not mention any officers being hurt.
The Mesa Police Department released the video on October 30, 2026. The Gilbert Police Department is investigating the shooting as part of the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team.
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